Daz wore the brightest smile of his life, something he didn't even know he was capable of. "You know, I was confident you'd agree but somehow hearing you say yes filled me with endless relief and joy. This may be the happiest I've ever been in my entire life. Granted, not much competition given I've had little-to-no emotions for a long time."
He laughed a little before leaning down to kiss Madison's forehead. "I never saw the value in marriage before, you know? The religious aspect seemed like nonsense to me but I can absolutely appreciate the deeper bond it symbolises now."
Madison's tears only increased. She threw her arms around his neck. She then pressed her body against him and planted her lips on his. "Love, you."
"I love you too, Maddy. And I likely always will," Daz answered.
Madison pouted with her eyes. "Likely?"
He smiled wryly. "Well... who's to say I won't get my mind wiped or something? It's a big universe."
"Stupid, Daz. Logic, bad," Madison chastised.
Daz couldn't help but chuckled a bit at that. His heart felt full and power flowed through him; the power of the Ember of Love.
Something in the back of his mind wondered if he could wield this power in an offensive manner but he ignored such thoughts.
Now was not the time for calculative thoughts of destruction. No, now was the time to enjoy the presence of the person he cherished more than anyone or anything else in this world.
----------------------------------------
The two of them spent most of the night together in that small traditional village tucked away in a corner of Seoul.
At around 11PM Daz thought it was wise to return to their hotel and enjoy each other's company all evening. Thankfully they weren't sharing a room with Rose and Vanessa.
Vanessa was far too innocent for what they classified as enjoyment and Rose would be insufferable about it, Daz felt.
It was only in the morning after that he finally gave Madison her engagement ring which he'd personally handcrafted.
It wasn't made of metal as one might expect but instead had been created entirely out of a diamond. The band was simple in design though it had an engraving on it reading; Forever Daz's.
Simple, but to the point. Of course, he had a matching one which was engraved with; Forever Madison's.
The two were disturbed at about 8AM by a buzzing noise coming from the room's intercom. The machine was linked to their suite's front doorbell meaning someone was essentially knocking for them.
Daz got out of bed while Madison grumbled in her sleep. He was naked so he chose not to activate the video function of the device as he pressed a button and said, "Hello?"
"Hey, Daz," Rose's high-pitched and youthful voice said, "Have you looked at the news this morning? Probably not, knowing you. Korea still has working T.V. networks so flip on your room's flatscreen and turn to a news channel. Also, let me in if you want my colour commentary."
"... I'm assuming that news relates to me. Sure, give me a minute to make myself decent," Daz said before he let go of the button he was pressing, cancelling the communication.
Less than two minutes later he was casually dressed and had opened the front door to allow his sister in.
"You're looking sharp. It's odd to see you out of that merc-like gear of yours," Rose said passingly as she rolled her wheelchair into the suite's living room. "Where's Maddy?"
"Still sleeping. You know her," Daz answered as he both picked up the T.V. remote then passed it to Rose. "I don't have a clue how this thing works. It's got dozens and dozens of buttons for only God knows what reason."
"You know, that might be one of the few things regarding tech I actually agree with you on," Rose replied before turning on the flatscreen and changing to an appropriate channel. "I'm gonna rewind so you can see the whole thing. It's just about ending right now as is."
"Can I get a brief rundown of what I'm about to watch?" Daz asked.
Knowing Rose, it wasn't going to be cartoons or anything of little value to him.
"Sure. First one, our deal with Grandma is going public; the second one, a big hunter guild is apologising to you publicly. That second one is hilarious, by the way. Trust you to get accosted during a date," Rose snorted.
Daz shrugged. "Blame Maddy for being too beautiful."
The two of them stopped talking as the news anchor started speaking.
"Hello, I'm your host In Soon-bok and today, in breaking news, President Ho Ran signs an agreement to join as a lesser kingdom under the foreign nation of New Earth. Today we have a guest in from the Blue House to help us understand the still-developing situation. Miss Gam, can you tell us how this situation came about and if the people of our United Korea should be afraid or concerned?"
"Well, first I should state that there is no need to panic, worry, or do anything rash. Nothing will change in our day-to-day lives. President Ho made sure of that during negotiations."
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
"Ah. I see. That's certainly good to hear from a professional in the know like yourself."
"Indeed. And to answer your first question, the high king of New Earth came to visit the president himself. Some may be curious as to who he is and why he targeted Korea when his kingdom is situated in the United States of America."
"I, for one, am very curious about that, Miss Gam."
"Definitely an understandable concern, Miss In. Well, to allay any concerns, High King Daz of New Earth is President Ho's grandson. Many people know that President Ho has always been the sole member of her family ever since the tragedy of 1999 which left her as the only survivor of the Ho family but now we're all happy to learn that her grandchild was secretly growing up in the U.S."
"Oh, my. How unexpected. Now, Miss Gam, I doubt many people will be willing to accept such an explanation without solid evidence. Can the Blue House provide such a thing?"
"As of now, no, sadly. However, plans to validate High King Daz's connection to the president are already being moved into motion."
"A difficult task, I'm sure considering how the system can muddy results like that or even fabricate them entirely."
"Exactly. It will take some time but the proof will be available for the public with time."
"Well, do you have anything more to tell us regarding why President Ho has made such an extreme decision to come under her grandson's rule? Blood is thick but putting the lives of so many people in the palm of a stranger is a bit of a stretch just because he's related to her."
"Of course, well, first, please allow me to explain High King Daz's goals and also detail the situation of his kingdom..."
Rose paused the programme. "That's it more or less for the first situation. It gets boring and very explanatory after this point."
Daz stroked his chin in thought. "I assume Grandmother has the media under her thumb. It's probably a safe bet to also assume she's going to paint this entire alliance in a rosy light."
"Not a fan of manipulation of the public via the media?" Rose asked mockingly. "Odd, coming from you."
"Not really, no. I prefer to be as honest as I can with my own politics but if it gets the job done, then so be it," Daz said with a shrug.
"Fair enough. Here's the press release from a certain hunter and guild which was held only an hour ago," Rose stated as she changed the channel and rewound to the right time.
The television unpaused at the click of a button by Rose and after a short visual intro of whatever show was hosting the press release, a familiar figure appeared on the screen sitting next to several other people behind a long desk that had many microphones attached to it.
"Hello, people of United Korea. As you may well know, I am Kim Youngsoo, an A-rank hunter of Rising Guild. I've organised this press conference after discussing a very serious matter with the guild leader, Ya Chul-moo and the rest of my colleagues at Rising Guild."
Daz smirked. "Crazy how a few harsh words changed him so much."
Rose nodded. "Sure is crazy how good the system is at altering the minds of others, huh?" she asked before giving Daz a look.
"This is different, you little devil and you know it. I'm nothing like Father in this regard. I spoke the truth to the man, system or not it was his choice to act like this whether he agreed with me or didn't," Daz replied dismissively.
"... You get less pissed now than you did before when I bring up Dad. Also, yeah, you're right, I was just fuc- messing with you," Rose replied as she hastily returned her attention to the television.
'I have come to terms somewhat with my similarities to Father but that doesn't mean I'm going to ignore that you almost just cursed...' Regardless of his thoughts, Daz also looked back at the screen.
"As some of you are already well aware due to the various rumours floating around about me, I am a well-known womanizer. I will no longer run from such rumours as they are true. Today I have come forward to apologise for my actions as my nature almost created a very powerful enemy for both me and all of United Korea."
"Yesterday evening, at Lotus District Restaurant, I ran into a couple of foreigners, one of whom I immediately became enamoured by. I tried to use my status to convince that woman to abandon her date and join me for the night instead."
"Her companion used a harsh and criticising tone to inform me of my idiocy and it was only thanks to his words that I did not do anything stupid. Had I not backed away I fear I may not be standing here before you all today."
"Initially, I believed that man to be a simple diplomat from a foreign country, however, after reporting my actions to the president herself along with my guild master, both Ya Chul-moo and I came to learn that who I offended was no simple diplomat but the high king of New Earth, President Ho's grandson, Daz, one of Earth's most powerful people and someone who the president claims is even stronger than herself."
"Wow. Grandmother actually admitted that?" Daz asked himself aloud.
Rose nodded. "Makes sense. I showed her some footage of everything you're capable of. It's hard to know you have three clones almost as strong as you and Rimmy unless you are fighting at full-force."
"Ah, that does make some sense," Daz admitted. "I wouldn't be surprised if even my own citizens thought Rimmy was an actual divine guardian of some sort, not a summoned familiar."
"Due to my actions last night I have come to reflect on my previous attitude and have decided that I will step away from all public affairs. In the future, I intend to spend my time helping the citizens of United Korea to complete their semester goals and I will no longer socialise with women wantonly. I will only battle rifts if my power as an A-ranker is necessary instead of stealing work from lower-ranked hunters as I have been previously. I will also strive to make amends with all who I have wronged in the past."
"High King Daz, if you are watching, please know that I am deeply regretful of what I said and tried to do last night. I now know not to assume the power of a person by their status. I understand you altered your status screen to remain lowkey for the evening and I apologise for ruining that with my arrogance."
"It is my greatest hope that what I have done did not sour relations between our two nations and I am hopeful and look forward to the alliance between our two countries. Thank you, that is all I wished to say today."
"Hah. Like I cared enough for one horny idiot's actions to reflect poorly on my goal of uniting all of Earth," Daz chuckled.
"Not everyone can see the bigger picture like you can, Daz," Rose commented. "Anyway, that's pretty much everything."
"That's true. Anyway, I guess this means I can't really go outside anymore and have a second date with Maddy today unless I want to get stared at and maybe spoken to by a bunch of strangers," Daz lamented.
"Yup. You should go meet Grandma today anyway and hash out some more of the more militarist agreements with her. That's not my area of speciality," Rose said. "Oh, also, I noticed the ring. Congrats."
"Thanks. It was something I should have done a while ago, to be honest. I just recently saw the value in it with the help of one of my Embers," Daz replied.
"Right. Well, I guess I'll see you later. I haven't had my morning bath yet and I left Vanessa to run the water for me. She's probably getting annoyed at how long I'm taking," Rose said with a bit of a sigh. "You're so evil for making me spend so much time with her."
"Sure I am. I think I'll come with you. I have to talk to her about something anyway," Daz said as he thought about the tokens the restaurant had gifted him. 'This should be amusing. I was gonna give the token in private but you can consider this punishment for almost cursing earlier.'